Buk Bijela dam and the Upper Drina cascade
December 13, 2021
Planned as a joint project of public utilities owned by the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, Buk Bijela on the upper Drina is being pushed forward in violation of local legislation and international conventions.
Bulgarian villagers call on the EBRD to ensure fair resettlement by coal company it finances
May 29, 2019
Beli Bryag, Bulgaria – Around one hundred villagers in the village of Beli Bryag, in Bulgaria’s Stara Zagora region, are anxiously awaiting for a resolution to their claims of proper resettlement by the Maritsa East mines, the company gearing up to expand its lignite mine to where the village currently stands. They have only until the end of the year before they are expropriated. [1]
Nenskra hydropower project: May 2019 update
May 14, 2019
Given the complexity of the Nenskra project and its immense impact on indigenous Svan communities and the country’s fiscal stability, the EBRD should take responsibility and not provide financial support until the project is properly assessed. Read mor
European Development Bank Significantly Strengthens its Grievance Mechanism – Reformed Mechanism Now More Independent
May 9, 2019
(Amsterdam, Prague, Washington, D.C.) — Civil society organizations welcomed the new grievance mechanism policy for the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Changing lives and doing no harm
February 8, 2019
“We invest in changing lives” is the slogan of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, whose investments in 2018 reached EUR 9.5 billion through 395 projects. Whether the change is for better depends on the bank’s environmental and human rights safeguards.
Belgrade incinerator plans raise burning questions
December 19, 2018
The planned Belgrade waste incinerator in Serbia, being considered for financing by the EBRD, EIB and IFC, is incompatible with increasing waste prevention and recycling rates and endangers the already precarious livelihoods of the 12,000 people who currently live from waste-picking in the city. The recently published environmental and social impact assessment for the project fails to resolve either of these issues, as well as numerous others.
Belgrade Solid Waste PPP ESIA
December 18, 2018
Comments and questions in English and Serbian submitted during the public consultation on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.
Shuakhevi Compliance Review
December 12, 2018
In view of the considerable public resources invested in the Shuakhevi HPP project and in view of the negative impacts on local people’s safety and livelihoods, as well on local resources needed for sustainable development of the Adjara region and Geor
Eleventh hour for protected Kresna Gorge as Bulgaria presses on with destructive motorway
November 28, 2018
With construction advancing in Bulgaria’s Kresna gorge, discussion happening now at the Bern Convention in Strasbourg having taken on an increased sense of urgency.
Comments on the draft EBRD Agribusiness Sector Strategy
September 12, 2018
These comments focus on the sustainability of EBRD investments, the need for better governance in the sector (both corporate and institutional), on issues that the draft Strategy is missing and needs to include or define better. While the draft inclu
